


Acquiescence

by mansikka



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Caring Magnus Bane, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Sick Alec Lightwood, Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-16 01:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12333036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mansikka/pseuds/mansikka
Summary: Alec's workload finally catches up with him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly silly fluff here; a break between all the smut and angst... enjoy :) x

_Dinner._

_Moonlit walk along a deserted beach, followed by an evening spent in a beach hut overlooking the clearest stretch of water you have ever seen—that you’ll not see until the morning, of course: however, I’m sure I can find ways to occupy you until then ;)_  

_Thoughts?_

_X_

Alec read through the message for the second time and closed his eyes, smiling at the thought of some alone time with Magnus. The past month had been more hectic than perhaps the last six, eight months put together, with a handful of demon breaches, and Clave bureaucracy taking up more time than any of the missions themselves.  

Alec was tired, having not had the luxury of switching off at the end of the day, but instead working in his office until late in the evening, or, when prompted by Magnus, taking a portal home and attempting to make a dent in his paperwork there.  

A glance to the side of his desk where a stack of unfinished work awaited him had Alec groaning out loud enough for it to echo around the office, making the headache he was trying to ignore pulse, and for a second he considered answering Magnus’ message with a _screw it, come get me now_. But if he could just clear the backlog, luck out with no extra tasks coming in—and of course no other crises to avert, then he could do better than give Magnus just an evening of his time; he could give him an entire weekend. Maybe longer, if he organized things right.

Magnus, Alec sighed again, forever patient with him for his sometimes-brutal schedule—always brutal of late, he amended with his heart sinking. He deserved more than his half-hearted attention, which, at the moment, would probably be all that he could give. _Was_ all he had given him over the last month, Alec amended to himself with his stomach flipping in guilt.

Deciding to offer his compromise of getting through his workload first, Alec answered another two emails before returning to his phone.

_How about we discuss that when you get here; I’ve got something else in mind ;)_

Magnus was due at the Institute in an hour or so anyway, Alec reasoned with himself. Rather than an out and out _not right now_ over the phone, he could make his suggestion face to face, back it up with a hug that he was actually aching for himself, perhaps take a few moments alone behind his closed office door.

_I’ll bring lunch :) x_

Magnus’ immediate reply had Alec smiling and his heart aching, for just how giving Magnus was with him. It wasn’t like Magnus wasn’t any less busy himself, but he always seemed to manage his time so much more effectively than Alec did. He’d make it up to him, Alec demanded of himself, going through a dozen different ideas before a cleared throat in his doorway commanded his attention once again, half-hearing another alert coming in on his phone.

* * *

Magnus had been providing the New York Institute with wards and its portal to Idris for longer than Alec had been Head of the Institute, and it had been a long time since anyone had so much as raised an eyebrow whenever he appeared. So to see him stood there, without a single person batting an eyelid unless they waved or nodded their heads in greeting, should not have sent the thrill through Alec’s stomach that it always did.  

Not that he’d have it any other way, of course.

Alec watched with a growing smile as he approached, feeling his headache easing just for seeing Magnus, and taking in the bag swinging carefree from Magnus’ fingers—no doubt containing their lunch—as Magnus wildly gestured in what was apparently a hilarious conversation with Izzy. Izzy’s laugh rang out around the control room, and Magnus answered with a delighted smile, so engrossed that they didn’t notice Alec until he was standing by Magnus’ side.

“Mr Lightwood,” he nodded with that spark in his eyes Magnus always had for using any kind of formality with him, “I hope you’re hungry,”

“Starving,” Alec smiled, gesturing for him to follow, ignoring Izzy’s teasing look even if he could still feel it boring into the back of his head.

“I take it you won’t be able to stop for too long?” Magnus asked quietly as they made their way down the corridor, his arm discreetly brushing against Alec’s.

“Not too long,” Alec admitted, already anticipating the pinched smile he’d receive when Magnus saw the workload still occupying his desk, “but—”

“Then it is good that I arrived a little early before performing my duties here to make sure you at least took the time to eat,” Magnus replied, smiling, and doing his best to keep it there on his face even as they rounded the corner into Alec’s office to see his overflowing desk.

“It’s… not as bad as it looks,” Alec began to explain, stepping forward and making a half-hearted attempt at trying to straighten up the piles of papers.

“Alexander,” Magnus sighed, stepping right up behind him and depositing the bag of food on top of the pile closest to them before tugging on his forearm so Alec would know to turn, “you are working too hard,”

“I know,” Alec agreed, already feeling himself sinking into Magnus’ warmth as he wrapped his arms around him, and Magnus waved a lazy hand towards the door to close and lock it behind them, “but if I can get through this—”

Magnus cut him off with a kiss, humming his way into it then pulling back with a pleased smile.

“I want us to have some time together that isn’t… rushed,” Alec said, quiet as he pulled Magnus a little closer to him.

“I’d settle for having an evening with you where you don’t have to bring all that home,” Magnus replied, a dismissive wave aimed behind them at the desk, “but I understand,”

“I wanna make it up to you,” Alec promised, raising his hands to cup his face and kissing him again.

“Alexander,” Magnus smiled, reaching up and lightly gripping around his wrists to draw them down again, “it isn’t about making it up to _me_. It’s about you making adequate time for _you_. And me, of course, as part of that, but—”

“Can we go somewhere?” Alec whispered, nudging until Magnus was backed up against the desk. “Let me just clear some of this… stuff. Then you and me, we’ll go… somewhere. Anywhere. That beach walk sounds good,”

“A beach hut lit only by magic and candles,” Magnus urged him quietly, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “no one else for miles around. Just you… me… whatever we decide to do together,”

“Sounds perfect,” Alec agreed, brushing their lips together then wrapping him up in a hug, “let me just… just give me a couple more days, and we’ll do it. I promise,”

“Well,” Magnus replied with a mock-sigh, running a hand over Alec’s chest before pushing lightly to give himself room to turn and begin going through their bag of food, “I suppose I can wait a few more days,”

“I’ll make it worth your while,” Alec teased, pressing himself up against Magnus from behind and spreading his palm wide on his stomach as he kissed along his neck. Magnus hummed in response, angling his head away for Alec to continue, then turning his head just enough to press an awkward kiss to his temple.

“We should eat,” Magnus said, twisting out of his embrace and flourishing his fingers to bring a small table into the room for them to eat at, along with a jug of steaming coffee, “I wouldn’t want to be accused of distracting the Head of the Institute from his duties,”

“You distract me all the time, whether you’re here or not,” Alec retorted, though his words came out soft as he thankfully sank down into a waiting chair, smiling as Magnus divided up their food between them before pouring coffee.

“I… choose to take that as a compliment,”

“You should,” Alec smiled, reaching across the table and squeezing his hand for a second, then realizing just how long it had been since he'd eaten when his stomach growled in protest.

“So. Exactly how late do you think you’re going to be this evening?”

Alec thought over the three reports he absolutely had to finish by the end of the day, and the fourteen outstanding emails he’d seen before going to meet Magnus, and slumped, his head giving a single pound of pain, and the back of his nose and throat tickling uncomfortably. “I am so sorry—”

“You don’t have to say sorry to me,” Magnus urged him again, shaking his head and snagging his fingers before he could withdraw them, “I’m just worried about how hard you’re working; you’re not even sleeping all that well,”

“Have I been waking you up?” Alec asked, sitting back hard in his chair awash with guilt.

“Alexander,” Magnus laughed, shaking his head, “I am not complaining. But I cannot settle if you cannot settle, and as much as, normally, I love to have you wriggling around in our bed—”

Alec dropped the fork he’d been about to lift to his mouth and let out an embarrassed whine.

“—I would much prefer that it was I who made you move like that. Whether you wake me or don’t wake me is irrelevant; I want you to not be working yourself so hard,”

Alec blushed a little harder and began to fall over his own words in explanation. “It’s just… with all these demons lately… and all these… changes at the Clave—”

“They’re making you all jump through hoops,” Magnus complained with a click of his tongue, leaning forward so he could swirl his thumb up over Alec’s throat, clearly having caught the dry catch in Alec’s words just then. Alec couldn’t deny it of course; just thinking about all the unnecessary extra layers of difficulty the Clave were insisting on building into every mission was enough to add several additional hours to his already busy week.

“Well,” Alec said, trying to find some kind of positive, and failing, and trying harder to swallow away that growing ache in his throat, “at least once we’re all used to the new procedures, perhaps it’ll… get easier,”

“Let’s hope so,” Magnus agreed, tilting his chin towards Alec’s plate again to ask that he keep eating, “otherwise, I’ll have to insist on whisking you away somewhere to pamper you with, oh, I don’t know. Massages and mud baths until you relax,”

Alec swallowed hard, thankful he’d only taken a small bite, told himself he had a better appetite than he did, and cleared his throat. “I… like your massages,”

“Then I’ll make you a deal,” Magnus offered, smirking, “whatever time you get home tonight, I will be waiting with candles, towels, and massage oil in front of the fire,”

Alec’s mind played back to him the last time they’d done that together, and it left him squirming in his seat. “I… that’d be good,”

“Eat,” Magnus insisted again with another nod towards the plate, “otherwise, you’ll be ushering me off, and I’ll come back here later to find everything cold,”

“I wouldn’t _usher_ you—”

“Eat,” Magnus repeated, raising an eyebrow and smiling, beginning to eat himself as though that might inspire Alec to do the same.

Magnus was right, of course; if he didn’t eat soon he’d be called away to do something else, or a knock at the door would interrupt them, and in that moment Alec just needed a few minutes alone with Magnus to soothe him.

The idea of a few days alone with Magnus without being dragged away or being interrupted bloomed bold in Alec’s mind then, and the restless feeling that had been sat with him for the best part of a week reared up again.  

“I promise,” he said then, reaching out across the table again to snag their hands together, “as soon as this is clear. Let’s go somewhere,”

* * *

Telling Magnus that he was a distraction at all times wasn’t anything short of the truth, Alec thought, squeezing his eyes closed for a second, then forcing himself to go back to the report in front of him. But knowing he was in the very building and not being able to see him was an entire new level of keeping Alec away from his work.

He’d read the same paragraph three times, still sure he could feel the ghost of Magnus’ lips on his from when he’d crowded him back against the door to kiss him thoroughly, before wandering out the office nonchalantly as though nothing had happened. He had turned back once a few feet away, fingers up and playing with his lips in the way he sometimes did when they’d been kissing, and Alec had stood in the doorway a little stupefied watching him disappear.

Alec groaned to himself then for again becoming distracted, and once more tried to stop the words in front of him from blurring. Until Magnus had said it, he wasn’t even aware of how little he’d been sleeping, but now he could feel the grit in the corners of his eyes from tiredness, and thought that if he dropped his head down to the desk for even a second, then he’d probably fall immediately asleep.  

Draining the last of the coffee Magnus had left him, Alec shook his head once more, then demanded to himself that he work.

The afternoon became a little more productive. Alec cleared two of his reports, worked through all his outstanding emails, in between answering another half-dozen interruptions and solving a couple more queries. Deciding he’d earned himself a break, Alec stood with soft groan and stretched, an ache making his limbs feel heavy, and an unexpected yawn having him throw his head back, then immediately prodding at his throat as though that might dislodge the discomfort there.

Promising himself he’d only take a few minutes, Alec left his office with a quick glance over his shoulder at his waiting workload, intending to seek Magnus out. He couldn’t help it, couldn’t help the pull to him wherever he was—and neither did he want to, Alec added to himself as he rounded the corner to find Magnus flourishing his arms checking over a ward. He came to an abrupt halt and allowed himself a few seconds just to watch him working, then silently approached.

“Think this’ll hold for another couple of months,” Magnus announced even before Alec had come to a stop.

“One of these days, I’m gonna manage to sneak up on you,” Alec retorted, though quiet and spoken only for Magnus to hear. He watched in profile as Magnus smiled whilst continuing to work, his fingers itching to reach out and touch.

“And one of these days,” Magnus began to retort without pausing, though showing a hint of a wider smile, “we are going to repeat what we did in your office to _celebrate_ your new position as Head of the Institute what seems a long, long time ago now. Of course, you will have to clear your desk a little more for us to be able to do that,”

Alec closed his eyes, not helped for the flood of images Magnus’ words conjured, leaving him biting down hard on his lip to avoid letting out a snort. “Why else did you think I wanted a clear desk…”

Magnus turned to smile at him wickedly then, still flourishing his fingers as he worked, though looking thoroughly amused. “It is cruel to tease, Alexander. I hope you are not making promises you don’t intend to keep,”

Alec dropped his head forward in defeat; he would never, ever be able to make Magnus blush anywhere near as hard as he always did him. Not that he wouldn’t keep trying, of course, Alec thought to himself, knowing only too well all the best ways to distract him when they were alone.

“Stick around and we’ll see what happens,” he said, shrugging easily, with Magnus smirking a little harder, then turning back to strengthening the ward.

“You know—”

The ear-splitting alarm sounding blasted away anything Magnus might have been about to tell him, and Alec first screwed his eyes up at the red emergency lighting, and second at the harshness of the noise.

“My office. Ward yourself in there for me,” Alec urged him quietly with a grip to his forearm. Magnus paused for only a second, possibly to think of an objection, then covered his hand with his own and walked away with a small smile, leaving Alec to roll his shoulders and face whatever this latest catastrophe was.

* * *

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Alexander, your alarm,”

Alec groaned at the insistent nudging against his arm, squeezing his eyes a little tighter shut at the shrill noise coming from his cell, and groaned into his pillow. His head pounding so hard, that even that slightest movement shot brutal shards of agony through his temples and around the back of his skull.

“Alec?” Magnus whispered a little louder, and Alec groaned again at the weight of Magnus leaning over him to reach for the phone himself, huffing in relief at the silence that followed.

“Alec—”

But Alec answered only with a whimper, his head so pressured with pain that it felt impossible to get a single word out. That heavy, weighted feeling he’d had in his limbs the entire evening before, as he’d worked late into the night and ignored it, announced its presence along with that sharp ache in his throat, and Alec admitted defeat, sinking even deeper into the bed.

“I think I’m sick,” he managed to croak out, and that immediately started him coughing feebly, the tickle at his throat sending further shoots of agony up and behind his eyes.

“Oh, my darling, you are,” Magnus soothed, and Alec leaned into the coolness of his palm pressed against his forehead, telling himself he’d just take a couple of minutes of sympathy before he forced himself out of bed. But the next thing Alec knew, Magnus was urging him over on to his back, and he listened as Magnus made a call to Jace telling him he wouldn’t be working.

“I need to—” Alec began to protest, cut off with fingertips pressed to his lips and a soft kiss to his temple.

“Let me see what I can do for you,” Magnus urged him, and Alec thought that if he managed to crack his eyes open, he might see Magnus flourishing his fingers over him, using magic to take away his ills.  

“Oh, Alec, you do push yourself too hard,” Magnus sighed, and Alec winced at the gentle reproach in his voice, feeling all kinds of pathetic.

“I just need to—”

“You need to _rest_ ,” Magnus insisted, one hand gently pressed to his sternum to let Alec know he had no intention of letting him up from the bed. “You’re going to stay here, let me look after you, and rest. Properly. Even if I have to restrain you,”

“You like doing that,” Alec mumbled, though the words came out a little delirious for the feel of Magnus’ magic working its way through him to make him feel better.

“I think you enjoy that a _little_ more,” Magnus countered, amusement laced through his voice. Alec snorted in answer, which just set him off coughing again, and had Magnus fussing around him, fluffing pillows, tucking blankets in until Alec felt cocooned. “Rest. I will bring you something for your throat,”

A protest formed on Alec’s lips, but the strength to actually get the words out seemed too far away. Instead he sighed, tried not to think about the backlog of work he’d return to when he made it back to the Institute—when Magnus _let_ him go back to the Institute—and sank back a little more into the pillows.

* * *

“I’m sorry I’m so busy all the time,”

Alec’s thoughts were jumbled, his words coming out slurred, and the tendrils of a bad dream clung on hard to the edge of his mind.  

“It’s okay,” Magnus soothed, and Alec arched at the feel of his fingertips stroking over his forehead, torn between shivering against the cold that repeatedly seeped through him, and wanting to shrug out of all the blankets Magnus had wrapped him in for the heat surging through him in between, from head to toe.

“It’s not,” Alec argued, trying to shake his head, but it was too heavy, and only ached more if he tried to move it.

“Alexander,” Magnus whispered, following those fingertips up with a kiss, “now is not the time to be thinking about this,”

“It’s always the time to be thinking about it,” Alec countered, groaning as Magnus slid his fingers through the back of his hair to lift his head, urging him to take a sip of water. He grimaced at the thought of the expression Magnus must be pulling for having to touch his sweat-soaked hair, yet when he opened his eyes saw only love and affection staring back at him, coupled with concern and a tentative smile.

“If I sit you up, will you drink some tea for me?” Magnus asked, tracing his fingers down Alec’s cheek, lingering them there against his jaw. Alec nodded instead of talking, and groaned with the effort of being raised up, barely any strength in his arms to do so by himself.  

With Magnus holding the cup to his mouth, Alec took careful sips, the heat and soothing properties of whatever was in his tea coating his throat, reducing that urge to cough that hadn’t quite manifested itself into a _proper_  cough yet; just an annoying, tickling thing that was more irritating than painful.

“I need to—”

“You need to rest, Alexander,” Magnus urged again, “tell me; how many times in your life have you been sick like this?”

It hurt to think almost as much as it did to move, but Alec tried, and could only come up with a couple of times. Magnus nodded as though his answer was exactly as he’d expected, then tilted the cup again for him to drink, saying nothing until it was drained and he was helping Alec shuffle back down the bed.

“I’m sorry I haven’t made enough time for you,” Alec sighed as Magnus tucked him in, the pull of sleep already closing his eyes.

“I understand—”

“You shouldn’t have to understand,” Alec complained, shaking his head and immediately regretting it, “you’re gonna get sick of waiting,”

“Waiting,” Magnus repeated, and the dip of the bed told Alec he was laying down beside him. Alec imagined Magnus studying his face. “Waiting for what?”

“For me to start acting like a proper boyfriend,” and though he knew he was sick, that his words were coming out petulant, it was a genuine concern Alec had worried over for a while. If he kept prioritizing work over Magnus, Magnus would surely find better things to occupy his time than a Shadowhunter who thought only of working for an institution that looked down on so much of what Magnus was about.  

“Alexander,” Magnus said, and the amusement in his voice asked Alec to crack open his eyes. He did, shuffling a little further into his pillow before finally allowing himself to look. Magnus smiled back at him, leaning up just enough from where he was stretched out on his side to press another kiss to his forehead. “Alec, you don’t need to change anything about how you are acting,”

“But—”

“You already are a _proper boyfriend_ ,” he added, with a press of his fingertips over Alec’s lips to prevent him speaking, and a warm, genuine smile that did a little to ease the worry in Alec’s mind. “I admit, I would love to have more time with you. But I cannot ask you to give up what you have… what is so important to you, any more than you would make similar demands on my time,”

“I love you,” Alec told him, trying to roll forward as though that might add a little more sincerity to his words, but Magnus held him back, wrapped a hand around his hip, and silently asked him to stay put. Alec sighed in frustration, and forced his lips to form more words. “You’re important to me, Magnus; so important. I need you to know that,”

“As you are to me,” Magnus smiled, seeming thoroughly enchanted with him for whatever reason that might be, “which is why I’d like you to take some time to recover, then take some time off. Not for me—though I would love to take you away somewhere—but because you are working yourself into the ground. Why else would you be so sick out of nowhere, hmm?”

“I’m sorry I don’t give you enough time,” Alec sighed, hearing Magnus’ words, yet not quite able to connect them altogether.

“Alec,” Magnus sighed, and Alec had already closed his eyes not wanting to see his expression, “sleep for me. I’ll be right here, just… rest a while. Okay? We can talk about this—about whatever you want, when your fever is down, when you’re less delirious, and when you… when you are less sick. Okay?”

“Okay,” Alec relented, not thinking he had much choice in the matter. He knew that determined tone of Magnus’ even when he wasn’t quite conscious enough to concentrate on it. With a huff to himself, Alec wriggled further down into the cocoon of blankets, hummed at the further kiss to his forehead, and quickly fell back to sleep.

* * *

“You ever think what it’d be like to live like a Mundane?”

Alec’s words appeared to startle Magnus, and it took him a few seconds to realize the reason for it was that it was the middle of the night, and Magnus had been asleep.  

“Uh,” Magnus replied, his voice thick with that sleep, “I… suppose so. On occasion,”

Guilt for waking Magnus up lost to the need to keep talking, to get the odd spiraling thoughts out of his head.

“Like… what’d you do? Where would you live, if you could choose anywhere? Who’d you spend your time with?”

Magnus stretched beside him, and Alec thought he heard him stifling a yawn, and then a hand pressed against Alec’s stomach drawing him back into Magnus’ chest, followed by a nuzzle at his blanket-covered shoulder.  

“I… have not given it _that_ much thought,” Magnus admitted with a splay of his fingers, “but I like to think that I would find a role… a _job_ , or have responsibility that meant I was able to help others,”

“Not like… going to parties, and... stuff like that, all the time? Or… I don’t know. Spending all your time just… doing only the stuff you like?”

“Alexander,” Magnus said, a smile to his voice as he shifted to press a kiss to the back of Alec’s ear, “I know my reputation precedes me—”

“It’s not about that,” Alec immediately cut him off, lifting his arm as part of the protest but dropping it again for the way it felt like lead, “I just meant, you could do anything you want, ‘cos, you know. You and me’ll never _be_ Mundanes,”

Alec thought he heard a soft snort of laughter behind him, wondered if his words were coming out broken, and tried to focus his thoughts.

“I just… if you could do anything that wasn’t _this_ life… what’d it be?”

Magnus hummed to himself as though in thought, and took a few seconds to apparently think that over.

“Well,” he eventually said, “my answer still stands. I have had enough… _frivolity_ , and _fun_ in my life, to realize that the key to enjoying life, is to find a balance between making yourself happy, and helping others to be happy,”

“So, you’d… like… what?” Alec prompted, going through all kinds of ideas of things a Mundane Magnus might do, and scorning every one. Magnus was better than anything, he huffed to himself, then wondered if it had actually been said out loud for Magnus’ tone shifting to thoroughly amused.

“Catarina has found that balance working in a Mundane hospital,” Magnus replied, seeming to muse to himself, “though I do not think anything… _medical_ , would suit me,”

Alec thought of the briefest details he knew of Mundane healthcare and shuddered, hard enough to make Magnus shush him soothingly and wrap himself a little tighter around him.

“So—”

“Perhaps something humanitarian,” Magnus suggested once Alec had settled again.

“Like?”

“These… tragedies… natural disasters and so on, that are frequently on Mundane news—that have the capacity to impact us in the Shadow World just as much; I think perhaps if I were Mundane, then I would like to focus my efforts on helping out with things like that,”

“We don’t do enough, do we,” Alec sighed to himself, though then immediately thought of a superhero out of one of Simon’s movies swooping in to rescue people from burning buildings or from beneath the rubble of highways following earthquakes, and groaned out loud.

“We do, and we don’t,” Magnus said, pressing a kiss to the back of his shoulder, “if it were possible to deal with every crisis so easily, then… I am not sure this world would exist entirely free of chaos. We would… create _new_ chaos, I think, simply for something to do,”

“Well, that’s stupid,” Alec huffed to himself, though couldn’t really deny the logic of Magnus’ words.  

“Perhaps,” Magnus agreed, “though what about you? What would Mundane Alec do to occupy his time?”

Alec hummed into his pillow, hating the thickness that was his head, and tried to clear it.

“I guess I’d wanna help people too. Like… I don’t know. Police, or something,”

“Urgh,” Magnus groaned in protest, wriggling against him.

“What?”

“But Alexander; of _course_ you would choose a role with such… _authority_ ,” Magnus teased, nuzzling into his neck to soften the sting of it, “it would be little more than learning a new skillset at the Institute for you,”

“Maybe I just like the idea of the handcuffs,” Alec bit back, smiling to himself that the brief clearing of his mind allowed him to say something that was making Magnus laugh as hard as he was, then groaned as a fresh wave of exhaustion ripped its way through him.

“I will… keep that in mind,” Magnus replied, still sounding to be on the verge of laughter, “but for now… please try to sleep a little more. You may feel better by the morning if you do,”

“I’d wanna be with you,” Alec told him, squeezing over his hand and pressing back against him, sighing at the reassurance of having him there, “whatever I did. Wherever I lived—whoever I was, I’d—I’d still wanna be with you,”

“Likewise,” Magnus mumbled into his ear after a couple of seconds, and Alec thought he heard a shift to softness in his voice. “Sleep for me, Alexander. We have _this_ life to enjoy together when you are recovered,”   

Alec huffed into his pillow, allowed himself to sink a little deeper into Magnus’ warmth, and willed himself to go back to sleep.

* * *

Morning came, and Alec felt better enough to be able to lift his head. He tested it out, keeping it raised at an awkward angle still laid on his side, then shifted a fraction and grimaced at the clammy feeling of his skin, closing his eyes as Magnus snuggled in a little tighter from behind.

Alec felt disgusting. He wanted to pull away from Magnus so he wouldn’t have to deal with it, yet didn’t have the strength to do much more than trace his fingertips over the back of Magnus’ hand, see if that might encourage him to wake.

“How are you feeling?” Magnus asked, thick with sleep, nuzzling in and pressing a kiss into his neck. Alec shrunk back away from it into his pillow, and roughly shook his head. “Alec?”

“I don’t wanna make you sick too,”

“I don’t mind,” Magnus replied, oblivious to Alec’s efforts to prise himself from his grasp, “and besides. This isn’t, I think, the kind of sick that is contagious. It is more to do with how run down you are, from working so much,”

“But—”

“But nothing, Alexander,” Magnus insisted, squeezing his hand around Alec’s hip, “I want you to rest, and I want you to recover. You won’t do that if you are constantly fretting about… unnecessary things,”

“It’s not _unnecessary_ not wanting you to get sick too,” Alec retorted, half-grumbling it into his pillow and apparently amusing Magnus for the way he poorly disguised a snort behind his head.

“Alec—”

“I’m revolting,” Alec protested, thinking the word to be an understatement. How could he be cold and too hot at the same time, feel like he was sweating in his own skin, yet be too exhausted to climb out of the bed and take a shower to rid himself of the feeling? His headache might be gone, but his limbs were still heavy, and every small move he made infinitely slow. Just the thought of all that effort had him groaning a little more and sinking further into the pillow.

“Alexander,” Magnus said, with authority in his tone as he pressed a little firmer down on Alec’s hip and helped him roll over on to his back. He took a few seconds to tuck in the blankets around him once again, hummed as though satisfied with his efforts, then reached up to stroke away strands of hair that Alec could feel plastered to his forehead. “I have dealt with pus demons. Fixed wounds oozing substances that… truly, the smell of, I will never forget. Treated broken bones shattered and sharded through the very skin, and seen more internal organs that were still fed by a beating heart than I would ever care to,”

Alec blanched at the images that painted for him, and Magnus’ smile for him in response was a soft, affectionate one.

“My point is,” he continued, bending to drop a kiss on Alec’s cheek, “is that if I can deal with all of those things, then I think I can handle taking care of my sick boyfriend, who has worked himself into a fever and needs a few days in bed,”

“I don’t _want_ a few days in bed,” Alec protested, having a brief flash of his desk and despairing at the work piling up there waiting for him to return.

“Oh, I don’t know if I believe that,” Magnus replied, in that coy, teasing voice he used only for Alec, “I seem to remember several occasions when you and I have spent multiple days doing nothing in this bed but enjoying each other,”

“That’s different,” Alec immediately pointed out, though couldn’t help smiling at those images replacing the more horrific ones Magnus’ words had just conjured.

“Yes, it is,” Magnus agreed, nuzzling against his shoulder, “and the sooner you are better, the sooner we will be free to do _that_ , and all kinds of things, once again,”

“I didn’t mean to get sick,” Alec mumbled, closing his eyes to Magnus’ gentle caresses, feeling nothing but undeserving and grumpy.

“I’d wager no one ever does,” Magnus countered, and Alec could hear the laughter in his voice for what he probably viewed as Alec’s childish behavior. It made him feel small, and very silly, and instinctively want to turn away again, despite not having the strength to even try.

“Alec; has it occurred to you that I might _like_ looking after you?” Magnus said then, a hand pressed square on his chest to prevent him even wriggling. “I don’t like the fact that you are _sick_ , of course, but that you need me—”

“I always need you,” Alec told him, instantly cracking open his eyes and trying to reach out from beneath the swathes of blankets. Magnus’ smile for him was small, bittersweet, and Alec’s head was still foggy enough to not be able to interpret what it might mean.  

“Then let me take care of you,” Magnus whispered, “let me fuss over you, and… make you stay in bed. Bring you tea. Mop your brow until you are better,”

“I… don’t think you need to mop my brow,”  

Magnus ducked, hiding a snort of laughter into Alec’s shoulder, his own trembling with the effort of not showing he was laughing, and etching Alec’s face with a deep frown.

“You are the most adorably terrible patient I have ever had the company of,” Magnus declared when he looked back up, his eyes twinkling in utter delight.

“I—”

But Magnus silenced whatever protest Alec had been about to make—that he hadn’t even put words together to make cohesive—with a press of his fingertips against his lips, and continued to beam down at him as though Alec was the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

Alec grumbled under his breath at the attention, but sighed as those fingers raised to swirl soothingly against his temple instead.  

“Tea,” Magnus said decisively, making Alec’s eyes flutter open again, not even really aware that he’d let them close, “something to eat. Then more rest, I think,”

“I love you,” Alec sighed out then, feeling himself dropping back to sleep. The kiss pressed to his forehead was full of tenderness, curving his mouth up into a smile before succumbing.

* * *

“I hate feeling like this,”  

Magnus hummed into Alec’s neck, then encouraged him to drop his head back against his shoulder, and continued to stroke the sponge he’d been washing him with down over his chest.

“Of course you do,” Magnus agreed, pressing soothing kisses into Alec’s newly clean skin before squeezing the sponge out, scooping up more of the scent-filled bubbles surrounding them before raising Alec’s arm, and sweeping the sponge up the length of it. “You are more used to caring for others than letting anyone care for you,”

“No one’s ever cared for me like _this_ before,” Alec sighed, shifting just enough for the water in their bathtub to slop against the sides as he adjusted.

“I should think not,” Magnus agreed with a kiss behind his ear, taking his time to wash Alec’s other arm, “though I am sure you prefer this method to a bed bath,”

“Yeah,” Alec breathed out in answer as Magnus’ hands splayed to press open his thighs, and even though the touches were gentle caresses meant solely for the purpose of cleaning him, Alec couldn’t help part his legs a little further and arch back against Magnus’ chest.

“When you are better,” Magnus teased, though his hands did linger a little longer than he probably intended them to, leaving Alec grumbling in frustration when he eventually pulled them away.  

“You promised me a massage in front of the fire,” Alec said then, knowing he sounded sullen, and sulking.

“I did,” Magnus agreed with a squeeze around his waist as he hooked his head over Alec’s shoulder, “and when your temperature is back to normal, and I know you won’t fall asleep on me in under five minutes, then I will give you exactly that,”

“Hold you to that,” Alec grumbled, wriggling back even more.

“Oh, you can hold whatever parts of me you like,” Magnus mumbled into his ear, making Alec snort with laughter so hard that he ended up sat forward with a coughing fit, wiping tears from his eyes and heaving as Magnus laughed behind him, swiping concerned hands up the length of his back.

* * *

“You know I love you. Right?”

Alec felt the book Magnus was holding drop to rest on his back, and Alec raised himself up on his chin to look at Magnus’ face.

“Of course,” Magnus replied with a curious smile, reaching out to first smooth hair away from Alec’s forehead then press his palm there, checking for a return of his fever.

“I just…” and Alec had to pause, think his words through a little more carefully. He was still a little sick, laid between Magnus’ legs under a blanket on the couch as Magnus read to him, and he’d missed half of what he’d been saying for the past few minutes, stuck on ways to tell him how he felt. “I just… I worry, sometimes. That… ‘cos I am the way I am—”

“Which is what?” Magnus asked softly, cupping the back of his head and encouraging Alec to look at him once again.

“This,” he said, wriggling, “me. I’m… _this_ , Magnus,”

“Okay,” Magnus agreed, though sounding none the wiser. If only he could put Magnus inside his own head and let him hear what he was thinking, Alec sighed to himself.

“I mean,” Alec tried again, coughing a little, “that… I know I can be… focused,”

“Focus is a good thing,”

“Tell that to Izzy,” Alec grumbled, feeling Magnus twitch beneath him in mirth. “But I mean… I know I’m like that. I know I get… involved, and… need to concentrate on getting the job done,”

“Why does it sound like you are attempting to apologize for one of the things I love about you so much?” Magnus asked, following it up with a kiss to his cheek and smiling at him so full of adulation that Alec couldn’t help but smile too.

“Because I’m like that, all the time,” Alec countered, swallowing away that still stinging feeling in the back of his throat, “I—”

“You are not _always_ like that,” Magnus denied, “only when it is necessary. I appreciate and admire your tenacity when you are working,”

“But when I’m always working—”

“You are not always working,” Magnus smiled, tracing his fingertips over Alec’s cheeks, “it’s just that, from time to time—in both of our occupations—there are moments when we are a little… overwhelmed with what we have to do,”

“But when I bring work home—”

“I _work_ from home, Alexander,” Magnus immediately countered being far more understanding than Alec thought he deserved.

“Yeah, but—”

“But nothing,”

“But when I take stuff out on you—”

“When do you do that?” Magnus asked in surprise, taking the book he’d been holding on to and stretching just enough to drop it on to the table.

“When I’ve had a bad day,” Alec sighed in remorse, “when things have gone wrong and I’m in a bad mood,”

“Alexander,” Magnus said before wriggling further down the couch and rearranging them so they were tucked up together side by side, “on very, very rare occasions have you done that. As I am certain I have done with you myself,”

“But—”

“But nothing,” Magnus insisted with a kiss, “I fail to see why you are choosing to paint yourself as some kind of… ogre, in this scenario,”

“That… that’s the green thing in that movie we watched. Right?” Alec checked, certain that was something Simon was to blame for once again.

Magnus’ lips twitched hard with the effort it was taking to keep himself from laughing, and he hid it instead with a kiss pressed to Alec’s forehead, nodding there so he didn’t have to speak.

“I’m sorry I don’t act like I need you more,” Alec sighed then, closing his eyes for a second, “I do need you, Magnus. I need you all the time. I don’t want you to forget that,”

“I won’t,” Magnus promised once he looked back at him, splaying his fingers a little wider on his hip.

“‘Cos I _do_ need you. I really need you. And I—”

“Alexander,” Magnus said softly, nuzzling against him, “I have had you laid out before me in our bed, telling me exactly how much you need me. And where. Multiple times,”

Alec helplessly smiled at that, feeling his cheeks flush hard immediately, and tried to duck away, only for Magnus to gently squeeze against his chin to keep him looking at him.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that you need me—in many, different ways—just as much as I need you,” Magnus continued, “both in and outside of our bedroom,”

Alec couldn’t stop the embarrassed whine punching its way out of him, wriggling his way down the couch and burrowing into Magnus’ arms.  

“This couch is… not quite big enough for you to hide from me on,” Magnus teased him, though Alec could feel the tension in his arms for Magnus keeping them both on the couch, then gasped at the snap of fingers that meant Magnus had moved them both back to bed.

“I—”

“I know that you need me,” Magnus assured him, rolling them until he had Alec beneath him, pressing kisses along his jaw and neck. “I also know that you love me,”

“So, so much,” Alec insisted, wrapping his arms tight around him and pulling him close.  

“It only concerns me, that you are so used to doing everything for yourself, that you forget to ask for help when you need it—especially when you need it most. From me, from your siblings, colleagues. Everyone,”

“I don’t… mean to shut people out,” Alec sighed, knowing he couldn’t dispute Magnus’ words. Sometimes it just felt easier to knuckle down and get everything done himself; that way, things would go exactly how he needed, and if they went wrong there was no one to blame but himself.

“I know you don’t,” Magnus agreed, pressing soothing kisses into his neck and squeezing his arms around him, “and if you are to learn anything from how sick you have allowed yourself to get this time, then this, I think, is the lesson I would like you to learn. We are here, Alexander, all of us. All of us that love you. It is not weak, or… demeaning, or… whatever you fear it to be, to ask for a little help from time to time,”

“I’ll… try harder at that,” Alec promised, pressing even closer to Magnus though it was barely possible considering he was pinned beneath him.

“For you,” Magnus insisted with a kiss to his temple, “if you want to change anything about the way you are behaving, I ask that you only do it for you. You deserve to _take_ at least once in a while,”

Exhaustion came to claim Alec again then, leaving him mumbling half to himself as Magnus rolled them on to their sides, concentrating hard enough to get another, _I love you_  out, before falling fast asleep again in Magnus’ arms.

* * *

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec is better and needs to return to the Institute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello :)
> 
> Here's the final part for you, the shortest of the three for when Alec recovers. Enjoy! x

By the time Alec was recovered, a full three days later, he had relaxed enough to only panic about the workload he was going back to every hour or so, instead of every few minutes, and managed to control how often he looked at his phone from the stern looks Magnus gave him every time he reached for it.  

That Magnus had silenced the phone so he wouldn’t be bombarded with calls and messages meant Alec both shuddered at the thought of the sheer numbers he had missed, and smiled to himself at the thought of Magnus caring that much he’d go to any lengths to make him rest. He’d overheard him giving Izzy specific instructions that the only calls they would be accepting were queries after Alec’s health; nothing to do with the Institute—not even, as Magnus had put it, an invasion of rabid, demonic mice.  

Magnus was currently dealing with a client in the spare room; Alec could hear the murmurs of their conversation and itched not to listen in harder, having been intrigued if not bewildered by another he’d overheard the previous day. He had no idea what half the things Magnus was saying even were, but the confident and every day way in which he spoke about them fascinated Alec. He thought he could probably sit there listening to Magnus at work all day.

But the Institute was waiting for him, and Magnus had another three clients, having pushed back numerous appointments to take care of Alec when he’d been sick. Alec ached to make it up to him in some way, though wasn’t sure how to. He settled on getting back to work and arranging for some time off to just be with him away from everything.

The conversation grew louder, and Alec pretended to be busy at the bookshelf he was standing by as Magnus and his client walked through. Curious eyes swept up the length of him but weren’t accompanied by any words, and Alec watched as the two of them headed for the doorway as Magnus showed the man out.

“What’d he want?” Alec asked once Magnus had returned to him, accepting a kiss and going willingly when Magnus wrapped him up in his arms.

“Some warding for his farm,” Magnus sighed, nuzzling against his collarbone, “apparently, he is having problems with a local wolf pack, yet is reluctant to take on the rather… excessive methods his neighbors are using,”

“Regular wolves, or—”

“Alexander,” Magnus smiled, looking up at him thoroughly amused, “can you imagine our Luke and his pack having little better to do than worry a herd of cattle?”

“Guess not,” Alec huffed to himself, realizing his head still was a little foggy at times even if he did feel so much better. He hoped it wouldn’t slow things down in getting back to work.

“So,” Magnus said then, pulling back and grabbing his hands, “you’re sure you want to go back now?”

“I have to,” Alec sighed, wishing it was in his power to say _forget everything, let’s go somewhere now_.  

“I know,”

“But I’ll be back soon. Just a few hours today, like you said,”

“I enjoy it very much when you listen to me,” Magnus teased, leaning up against his chest.

“Hey,” Alec retorted, “I listen to you all the time,”

“But do you ever really hear me," Magnus sighed dramatically with a smirk on his face, "when I am telling you things that are meant to benefit you—”

“I know, I know,” Alec smiled, though rolling his eyes at the same time, “I’m a stubborn—”

“You’re _my_ stubborn… whatever you were about to call yourself,” Magnus retorted, that amused twinkle in his eyes infectious enough to have Alec sighing and leaning back against him, still fighting with himself to even leave.

“I…  can’t argue with that,”

“Finally,” Magnus sighed dramatically, “something we can agree on,”

Alec kissed the laughter from his mouth and pulled him close, closing his eyes to the feel of Magnus pressed against him.

And Alec was still smiling when he stepped through the portal that would take him into his office.

* * *

Alec wanted to either rub his eyes in disbelief or yell at someone for pulling an inappropriately timed prank when the portal cleared behind him, and he stepped forward with hesitation to peer at his desk.

There were two, small stacks of work to one side of it, neat to the corner, and a notepad and pen in the center with a note scribbled from Izzy to come see her when he arrived—and not to touch anything until he did. Not another scrap of paper or over-stuffed file to be seen, he panicked, eyes sweeping around the room in search of more things waiting for him to do. It had to be a joke, Alec thought to himself, with his heart fluttering as he tried to figure out where his prankster might have hidden his work—and how much longer it would then take him to complete it.

Various smiles greeted him as he made his way through the Institute, a couple calling out to ask if he was better, and a couple more saying they were glad to see him back, which took Alec by surprise. It wasn’t that he wasn’t respected at the Institute—though Alec knew he ruffled more than a few feathers for the way he insisted on treating the Downworlders as equally as he could within Clave restrictions, and frequently pushed against those restrictions as well for further peace between them—but he’d never thought about being _missed_ at work before. It was a strange feeling that put a smile on his face, realizing that his desire for transparency with the Downworld was accepted if not shared, and that he trusted the Shadowhunters that made up his team to see past their own personal prejudices to do their jobs.

Izzy stood in front of a monitor, quietly muttering instructions to a couple of people who turned the moment Alec approached to smile in greeting, then went back to listening before turning away, setting off for whatever task she had given them.

“Brother, you’re back,” Izzy smiled with enthusiasm as she spun, instantly wrapping an arm around his waist. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he agreed with a smile, holding her just as tightly as she inspected him, then nodded as though satisfied with what she saw, and stepped away again. “Everything okay here?”

“We didn’t set fire to the place in your absence, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Izzy teased, nodding for him to follow her over to a desk.

“So? What’ve I missed?”

“I emailed you. Nothing you need to be concerned about currently; everything’s under control,”

“But—”

“Alec,”

Alec slumped at the stern turn of her voice and waited for whatever lecture was about to come; any he’d had whilst sick had been heard in the company of Magnus on speaker phone where he could burrow down into Magnus’ arms and not hear her concerned anger too loud.

“What?”

“Everything’s clear and up to date for now. But it took me, Jace, _and_ Clary to work through all of it. You’ve been doing the work of at least three people all this time, and not said anything?” Izzy demanded, sounding halfway between furious and incredulous.

“I… it’s my responsibility,” he tried to argue, receiving a further glare.

“To head the Institute,” Izzy retorted, “not work yourself into an early grave. You’re supposed to _delegate_ ; not try and solve the whole world’s problems on your own,”

Alec tried to find a way round her argument, then slumped to the corner of the desk in defeat.

“It’s not that you’re not capable, or the best person for all of this; it took me and Jace a couple of hours to figure out some of the stuff you deal with on a daily basis,” she added, her expression softening a little as she reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “But half this stuff—more than half, you’ve got an entire team to deal with. All this additional paperwork, and these new processes the Clave want us to try for missions; they’re supposed to be filled out by everyone when they return, _not_ just you. And don’t even get me _started_ on your regular workload…”

Alec closed his eyes for a second then sighed, and nodded in agreement.

“So,” Izzy continued, with a smile, “welcome back. There’s some outstanding stuff for you to deal with on your desk, but only a couple of things that need looking at today, and by you. The rest you can hand out, or push back. Okay?”

Alec smiled down at Izzy then, unable to stop himself, but nodded in agreement again, and allowed himself to be towed back to the office to go through those piles of work.

* * *

“Had a good day?”

Magnus’ smile for Alec the moment he stepped through the portal spoke of being both happy to see him, and checking him over for signs of exertion.

“Pretty good,” Alec agreed, crowding up against him for a kiss that Magnus hummed in surprise for receiving, then sank into with a pleased sigh.

“I trust things are… better,” Magnus prompted when they’d pulled back enough just to be holding on to one another and smiling.

“I might have the best siblings,” Alec nodded, groaning to himself, “just… don’t tell them I told you that,”

“Far be it from me to damage your… stern reputation,” Magnus teased, stepping back to wrap their fingers together.

“Yeah, well. You’ll like them all a whole lot more when I tell you what they’ve done,”

“Oh, but I love them all dearly anyway,” Magnus retorted, patting his cheek then tugging on his hand so Alec would follow him to sit. “Except perhaps Jace. I still haven’t forgiven that boy for all the nights he interrupted us when—”

“There’s no one here now,” Alec pointed out, quietening him with another kiss, nudging Magnus until he was laid out on the couch beneath him.

“An excellent observation,” Magnus agreed, running his hands repeatedly over Alec’s back beneath his shirt, “I seem to remember promising you a massage,”

“You did,” Alec agreed, mouthing up his neck, “but first—”

“Spoil my fun,” Magnus pouted, immediately laughing for Alec sneaking his fingers beneath his shirt to tickle his sides.

“First,” Alec continued, pressing kisses along the neckline of that shirt that was, helpfully, already half-unbuttoned down his chest, “how would you feel about planning us a vacation. A real, two-week vacation, away from everyone, and everything. No interruptions, no calls demanding either of us be anywhere else; just you and me. How’s that sound?”

“Magical,” Magnus replied with a delighted smile to greet Alec as he looked back up at him. “When? How?”

“Next month,” Alec sighed, wincing in apology, “I’m sorry it’s not sooner, but—”

“Alexander,” Magnus smiled, cutting him off by leaning up for a kiss, “it will give us both something to look forward to. So long as you aren’t planning to work yourself into the ground _again_  before then,”

“Don’t need to,” Alec replied, nuzzling against him as he told Magnus about all that had happened in his absence, and how much work he’d be delegating from now on.

“Have I told you how much I love your siblings,” Magnus smiled, wrapping his arms tighter around him.

“Have I told you how much I love your massages. And _you_ ,” Alec retorted with a nudge against his jaw that Magnus laughed at joyfully, shifting to spread his hands wide over his skin.

* * *

 

 


End file.
